The hunt for a killer

A FLY-on-the-wall documentary will tell the inside story of the international hunt for a man who murdered his wife and three children in a so-called honour killing. It will follow Det Supt Martin Bottomley and his team, as they try to find and convict Stockport taxi driver Rahan Arshad, 37, for the brutal killings at the family home, in Cheadle Hulme.

A FLY-on-the-wall documentary will tell the inside story of the international hunt for a man who murdered his wife and three children in a so-called honour killing.

It will follow Det Supt Martin Bottomley and his team, as they try to find and convict Stockport taxi driver Rahan Arshad, 37, for the brutal killings at the family home, in Cheadle Hulme.

It charts the investigation from the discovery of the bodies in August last year, Arshad's arrest on his return from Thailand a few weeks later and his conviction for murder at Manchester Crown Court in March.

The court heard Arshad snapped after finding out his wife Uzma, 32, had been having a two-year affair with a married man. After battering her to death he killed their children Adam, 11, Abbas, eight, and Henna, six.

Det Supt Bottomley said: "This is one of the most brutal and devastating murders I have ever dealt with and the final documentary shows the hard work my team did.

"Many of us have children, which makes the brutality he used to kill his own children even harder to comprehend.

"What is even more horrifying is that we now know Arshad feels totally justified in what he did and believed that Uzma brought this on herself and her family."

The police were called out to the Arshad house on Turves Road, by neighbours who had become concerned.

Officers found the bodies. All four had died from serious head injuries.

The team found Mr Arshad's car at Heathrow Airport and discovered he had flown to Thailand just hours after his family died.

They contacted the Thai authorities who caught him trying to cross the Thai Malaysian border. He flew back to Britain and was arrested at the airport.

He pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter - he admitted killing his wife but said he was provoked.

His plea was not accepted and he was convicted of her murder and the murder of their children.

The documentary called Honour Kills will be broadcast at 9pm tomorrow on BBC3.